Garment-stay.



S. H. PLEMING.

GARMBNT STAY.

APPLIOATION FILED DBO. 26. 1911.

Patented Apr. 15,- 1'913.

cLUMnlA PLANOORAPN CO.. WASHINGTON. nA c.

uivimEE; STATES PATENT oEEIoE; N

STEPHENH. FLEMING', OF CHICAGO,` ILLINOIS."

, GARMENT-STAY.

Specication of Letters Patent.

T0 all 'whom it may concern:

Be it known thatI, STEPHENH. FLEMING, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Chicago, county of 1 Cook, and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new `and useful Improvements in Garment-Staysf of whichthe following is a full, clear,and eX- aot description.`

The invention relates to garment; `stays and seeks toprovide an`improved stiifening stay for garments, neckwean and lthe like, whichcan be subjected tolaundry` processes without losing its` shape,stiffness or" resili ency. At the present time, `iti isusual to removesuch stays from a garment before the latter is laundried, but thepresent invention provides a stay which can be subjected with out injuryto thehotliquids and irons employed in ordinary ilaundryprocesses.

Theinvention consists in the features of improvement hereinafter setforth, illustrated in theipreferred form in the accompanying `drawing`and more particularly pointed` out in the zap ended claims.`

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a plan; view of the improved stay. Fig.2zis a longitudinal section thereof on the line 2 2 ofFig. `l.

Fig. 3 is a cross section on the` line 3-3 of Fig.2. Figs. t and 5 areplanviews illustrating parts of the stay during the process ofmanufacture.

The improved stay comprisesa stiifening body formed of a bundle orilayers of fibers,

such as stiff hairs or bristles.` Hog bristles are preferably employed:and the best results have been attained with those known to the tradeas Russian hog bristlesa` The bundle or layers of `hogbristles areloosely assembled within anlinclosing, water tight envelop. In thepreferred embodiment `of the invention, the envelopjis formed ofvulcanized india rubber reinforced with fabric.

As shown in the drawing, the improved stay strip of `fabric which` formsthe reinforce-` ment of the envelop is covered lon one side with a thinfilm or coat of raw india rubber. Preferably, the fabric strip iscalendered on one side with a thinsheet of raw rubber compoundcontaining sulfur or other `suitarrangecl straight and parallel to one`an-` other in bundles or layers and their `ends are evenly trimmed." Tofacilitate the handling land assemblin of a thinisolution of raw rubbermay be ap` j plied thereto and particularly to the ends of` the bristlesto hold them together. The `rubber solution thus used toloosely holdthel layers of bristles together should not, however, contain anyvulcanizing agent.

arranged in a layer as indicated in Fig. 4. The layer is divided uponthe longitudinal line X-X, and the two portions superposed with thethick ends of the bristles of one portion overlving the` thin ends ofthe bristles;

of the other. The superposed layers are then placed upon a thin sheet ofraw rubber:

compound or upon a strip of fabric coated with raw rubber compound, asindicated in Fig. 5.` The sheet of rubber or rubberi coated fabric isthen` folded upon the line y-y and is of such size that portions`thereof will extend beyond the ends and beyond` one side of the innerstiifening` body of bristles. These extending edge portions; c willoverlap and be cemented together by the raw rubber coat or film. Thestay thus formed is then subjected to heat sufficient1 vulcanizedaboutthe separate bristles, butI instead, will tend, during the vulcanizinglprocess, toi part from the bristles and adere to the body of theinclosing envelop,

since it will be taken up by the vulcanizing elements 1 in the envelop.The separate bristles, inithe finished product, are therefore notembedded ,in the vulcanized rubber portion of the stay and, for the mostpart, are not cemented together or to the envelop.

On the contrary, they are loosely assembled within the inclosing envelopand this `are` rangement has been found to materially increase the lifeand resiliency of 3the stay, since the bristles are free to moverelatively to one `another to some extent as the stay is bent. Thewatertight inclosing envelop of l 1110 the boilinglwater and hot alkali used,in the vulcanized rubber protects the bristles from laundry.` When soprotected and kept dry,

p PatentedApr. 15, 1913.1 l Applicationled December 26, 1911. j SerialNo. 667,936.

of the bristles duringI the process of manufacture, a small amount ablevulcanizing agent. The bristles `alare Thel bristles used to form a stayare preferablyf the heat used in ordinary laundry processes will notaffect the bristles andthe natural resiliency thereof Will bemaintained. It is therefore unnecessary to remove the improved staysfrom a garment before'subjecting `the latter to vvashingand ironingprocesses. The projecting portions c of the envelop form sewing edgesbyJ which the stay may be secured to the garment Withoutfperforating themain body of the stifening body of bristles loosely assembled. `Withinan inclosing, Water-tight envelop Wat-er tight envelop.y The improvedstay is particularly Well adapted foruse upon neck bands, collars andthelike, but, by arrang` ing the groups of bristles end to end' and`overlapping,longer stays can be formed for other garments.

- Itis obvious that the details of construc-V tion and manufacture setforth may be vai ried Without `departure from the essentialsoftheinvention as defined in the claims.

I `claim as my invention: c

` l. A resilient garment stay comprising ka stilfening bodyV `of kfibers`loosely assembled Within an inclosing,l `Water-,tight substantially asdescribed. y

2. A resilient garment stay comprising a stiening body of bristlesloosely assembled Within an inclo'singh1envelop of lvulcanized indiarubber, substantially `as described'.

3. A resilient garment'stay comprising a-30 formed of vulcanizedindiarubber and re'V inforced With a layer of fabric, said envelophaving a projecting sewing edge,'substan tially as described.

` STEPHENHQFLEMING ,Y AVpVitnesses: Y

HARRYL. CLAPP,; kKA'rHARnvE Grunn/ica opies of this patent may beobtained for ve cents each, byraddress'ing the Commissioner-'ofPatents;-

Washngton, D. C,

envelop, n

